Hostess Workers Try to Find Jobs
Hostess can now begin to terminate more than 18,000 workers after bankruptcy judge approved a request on Wednesday to start liquidating the company. That came after final talks between the company and union leaders failed Tuesday.Nearly 100 employees in Boonville will soon be without a job, but the state’s rapid response team was in the city on Wednesday to help workers find new jobs.Workers from the Division of Workplace Development spent about two hours explaining unemployment benefits to the former Hostess employees and how they could find another job, however they were not there to point out any nearby job openings.Several Hostess workers say they came to the meeting to start over.”I know there’s jobs out there but around this time, I’ve applied to at least a dozen already,” said Vernon Payne, who was laid off by Hostess. “So far, haven’t heard back from them yet.”About 50 workers attended the first of two sessions held on Wednesday. Those with the Department of Economic Development say during the session, workers were encouraged to use the career center. They say that could be the best chance to get another job.”They have a great pipeline to all of the openings in the area that are at your fingertips,” said John Fougere of the Missouri Department of Economic Development. “If you go to the resource center also, they have instructions on things like resume writing, interviewing, and all those skills you’re going to need.”Several former Hostess workers say they are going to take all of the classes they can and do anything they can to make themselves more marketable to other employers.”They got a lot of good things going here for you, which I’m surprised because usually you don’t seeing them work that hard to help people out,” said former Hostess employee Macolm Elliott. “So in the long run, it’s a good thing that they did come around and do this for people.”Economic development leaders tell ABC 17 News they are already trying to get businesses to set up shop in the Boonville plant. They say it may be more enticing to prospective companies because there are skilled workers ready to get back to work in the area.
